Richard Nixon (January 9, 1913-April 22, 1994)
Political Party- Republican
1st Term- 1969-1973
Vice President-Spiro Agnew
2nd Term- 1973-1974
Vice President- Gerald Ford

Richard Nixon did some great things during his presidency but he also made some mistakes while in office. The Watergate scandal left Nixon with a bad reputation. Also, he was the only president to resign from office. People forget some of the good things that Nixon did during his presidency. He came into office with many ideas and goals on how to better the country. Also, he was a president that was for the people. For all of this, Nixon should receive a B- for his presidency.

When Nixon entered office he had many goals. One of his main goals was to end the Vietnam War. Also he wanted to end the protests against the Vietnam War and get the nation back together. He wanted to help foreign affairs by creating a better relationship with China. He thought that America should get rid of the military draft and instead just have an army of volunteers. Another one of his goals was to help the environment, The National Environmental Police Act was created to help him achieve that goal and that also helped with the nations forests.

Nixon had a very bad relationship with Congress. He said that his goals could not be carried out because of Congress. This had something to do with the fact that mostly all of Congress was democratic and Nixon was a Republican. Although they had differences in opinion, they still managed to pass some good legislation such as the 26th Amendment. This made the standard voting age 18. They also passed the Equal Employment Opportunity Act which enforced laws about discrimination. So overall his relationship with Congress wasn't the best but some great legislation still came from it.

Nixon's most positive outcome of his presidency would be how he created a better relationship with China and the Soviet Union. He made agreements with them that limited the use of nuclear weapons. This helped prevent another scare of a nuclear war in the future. Also, he created the National Drug Administration which helped regulate the drug use in America. Also ending the draft, which pleased the public.

The most negative outcome of Nixons presidency was his inability to end the Vietnam War. Although that was one of his main goals when he entered presidency it didn't get carried out as quickly as planned. The war continued well into Nixons presidency. Also, when the war ended America did not win, they just pulled all the troops out of Vietnam without making any agreements. Also, another big negative outcome of his presidency was the way it ended. Nixon ended up resigning from office because of the Watergate Scandal. When Nixon was campaigning for his re-election he broke in the Democratic Watergate building to try to steal evidence of the Democrats plans for their election and for their candidate.

Overall, Nixon had some positives and negatives during his presidency. He helped get America out of a recession. He regulated prices, and gave equal employment opportunities. He also helped drug regulation, and stopped the military draft. The one negative thing, the Watergate scandal is what left Nixon with his bad reputation. He left an impact on presidents to come and showed how one negative decision could drastically change the public's opinion of you. That is why Nixon should deserve a B- for his presidency.

Bibliography-

Richard M. Nixon."The White House". Web.27 Dec. 2009. http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/richardnixon
"Impeachment: Richard Nixon." The History Place. Web. 27 Dec. 2009. http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/impeachments/nixon.htm